[tosca100]

Sounds better and better!

[sion01]

I've sort of chickened out/gone for the middle ground on the idea I started with.The lady has a field of about an acre by the house and I have been offered this for free.

There is a large pen at the top of the field where her husband used to rear phesant chicks so I can put chickens in there and grow veg on the rest of it.Being realistic it will give me a good idea of what I can handle without shelling out a lot of money that I can't afford to play about with.

it does feel a lot more comfortable and much less daunting doing it like this and if I find that I do have the time there's an old pig stye  in the corner beging for a few weaners.The beauty of the phesant pen is that it is completly enclosed so foxes or crows/magpies can't get in so if I cant go there one evening/morning there won't be an issue anyway as long as they've got enough feed.

The farmer who rents the land on the farm ploughed a bit for me this morning and i've carted a load of really old manure from a cow shed this evening He's going to rotovate it over the weekend when it's dried out a bit.I've started some spring cabbage and early summer/spring cauliflowers at home so the bed will be nice and settled when they are planted and I'm planning to sow some nanco chtistmas carrots(we'll see) and perpetual spinach as soon as it is rotovated and there'll be a patch left empty for the garlic in October.Ill leave the rest of it fallow until the autumn and just plough it and put a load of manure on it before starting on that in the spring.I don't see the point of ploughing it now as it will just just encourage weeds.

I've been helping the farmer in the evenings as well which I've really enjoyed.I miss working with the animals on a farm but I don't miss the tractor work.I find that really boring.He's likeing haveing me there when he want's a hand too and last night I spotted that one of his cows was on heat so the AI man was able to inseminate her today.If he'd missed her it would have thrown his calving pattern out a lot.So thinking on If I do ever need to borrow a ram etc etc for a larger piece of land I know a man I can ask

[tosca100]

I will try not to be jealous! Have been waiting years for an allotment so I could at least grow a decent amount of fruit and veg (or even half as there is just the two of us) At this rate we'll be to old to bother!

Good luck with your venture...and I understand you wanting to be involved with animals still, and contacts are always useful.

[sion01]

Thankyou Tosca.Its nice to have more land to plant then I know what to do with.As my garden at home isn't that big and me being a bit of a plantaholic it's been a struggle trying to fit in flowers ,herbs and veg.I can now dedicate my garden to herbs and flowers with just a few veg like lettuce/peas that don't store well and will be handy to have close at hand.I'm looking forward to planting a WHOLE pack of seeds and not just a small row.

I'll have to sit down and plan some sort of crop rotation but I'll have all winter to plan that so I'm going to plant what I can now so I'll have something from the field by Christmas with a bit of luck.

[Debz]

Congratulations on making your decision and getting enough land for using for veg and chooks.

[fiano60]

  Great Idea!!!!!!sounds just the thing to get you going but must admit
  got a touch of the green eye really pleased for you all sure its going
   to go really well be nice to see a few picks as you get going?
                            Good Luck  Fiona   

[Growster...]

Does it have to be a livestock option Sion?

How about an arable smallholding?

[sion01]

Yes I can do anything I want with it.I think I could grow most of the veg I need on it and I'm thinking at the moment of sorting it out in to 4-8 plots so I could have some sort of rotation .I could put pigs and/or chickens on one or two plots for a year to build up the fertility(free manure) but thats just planning.

Asi mentioned before I have planted some stuff already but I don't know wheather to leave the rest of the land under grass until spring or to plough it now.But then there could be the problem of nutrients washing from the soil over winter.I've also though of spraying it to kill any perennial weeds but that would also leave the ground bare over winter ?There won't be a mad rush next spring I imagine  as the land is at 600ft and prone to late frost I don't think I'll be planting any potatoes until very late in April possibly even May